Eczema treatments - anyone found anything particularly effective?

[FiFTM]

Hi all,

My 6yo DS has had eczema since he was a toddler. We have been managing it since then and it does seem to be lessening, ie not as widespread on his body, but we have persistent aggravated patches in the usual problem areas, behind knees, elbow and armpit creases. I feel like I'm using his steroid cream weekly now on these as I can't seem to find any emollient that controls it. We're currently using cetraben ointment as he was complaining of stinging with the creams. Just wondering if anyone has come across anything that they found helped, I'd love to be able to ditch the steroid use and keep it for occasional use, but maybe that's a pipe dream? TIA

My nearly 2 year old has eczema and it is much better cutting dairy and soya out of his diet. We use the wild and wood balm on it. I'm trying vitamin D as well at the moment but it's too early to tell if it's helping or not yet. The dairy and soya is a definite trigger though and he scratches himself raw if he has any by accident.

Thanks, I've considered the dairy free route, but he's never shown any other signs of dairy intolerance, has your LO any gastric side effects when taking dairy or is it just skin related?

No it's literally all his skin. Nothing else pointed to dairy intolerance.

Hi OP
our baby suffers with very bad eczema, similar to your sons, ankles, behind the knees etc.
she had a bad allergic reaction at 6 months old and we were sent for allergy testing.

skin prick test should cows milk protein and eggs.
(these didn’t cause the bad reaction she had, that was wheat!)

however when speaking with the dietitian, we were told that dairy, egg and nuts are the most common causes of eczema.

we are currently dairy free, but will be introducing dairy and eggs very slowly using the nhs milk and egg ladders as a guide.

she has a 2% steroid cream and zeroderm emollient which we also add to the bath. I tend to find the steroid works and as soon as we stop using it , it comes straight back!

hope this helps.

Oilatum emollient bath oil is wonderful as some eczema creams cause the itching to be worse in my experience.

A nice cool bedroom, cold wet flannels on itchy patches through the night and avoid clothes with rough seams inside them.

Also you try not using any washing machine detergents/fabric conditioner to see if that eases the itching.

I like Aveeno products.

Somebody recently recommended Skin Salvation, which I'm giving a try (seems good so far). It can be used over the top of other treatments. www.hollandandbarrett.com/search/?query=Skin%20salvation

Tacrolimus is very good. My dermatologist recommended it for me, and there is a paediatric milder dose of 0.03%. Your GP can prescribe it, but make sure you ask for the paediatric dose. (You can dilute it even further with emollient, if you like.)

It was very effective when steroidal topicals weren't helping.

Thanks for the recommendation, I might speak to the GP about trying it, his aunt on his dad's side uses it too as hers has persisted into adulthood

Thanks for all the advice everyone, plenty to work with there!

My dd has just had skin prick testing and is very allergic to dust mites. I’ve removed all teddies, wet dusting, brought dust mite covers and I’m boiling her bedding. Not sure if it’s helping as she’s also on steroids but might be worth a try, a quick google shows that a lot of people are triggered by them.

I second the cutting out dairy and soya, also gluten. And Madeleine’s Cream is brilliant and all natural. It’s incredible for all skin issues. (Also the best treatment for nappy rash. Clears in 24-48 hours).

Website isn’t great but the cream and ointment is so good at clearing multiple skin conditions.

https://madeleines-cream.com/

When DH had awful eczema due to work stress the thing that finally cleared it up was exeskin from ultra bee health.
Once it's clear he uses Aveeno products to help keep it at bay, no fabric conditioner and only non-bio powder.
https://www.ultrabeehealth.co.uk/products/exeskin-eczema-cream

DS had sebbhorreic eczema as a toddler - aqueous cream for washing him (including hair) sorted it within a week.

Cutting our dairy worked in my family. Try it for 3 months and see?

It sounds so simple and ridiculous and I’m sure you’ve already tried it, but Vaseline cleared it up really well for DD! I hadn’t considered it but a friend of mine who has really bad eczema recommended it (the big tub with the blue lid) and it’s worked a treat.

She suggested steroid cream and then Vaseline over the top but just the Vaseline has worked really well and really quickly for us, then we use the bioskin junior daily moisturising spray to keep on top of patches where it flares up badly.

Give him oatmeal baths

Just a quick update regarding Skin Salvation... it's turning out to be a miracle cream! I've been using it on my baby daughters skin which, in places, looked as though her eczema needed a prescription of hydrocortisone cream (I decided to delay calling the GP by no more than a day or two) and now it's cleared up aside from some mild scarring/discolouration which is still fading... it feels so much softer and smoother only a few days in. I'm very impressed.

DD recently started taking Dupixent, an auto injection

It's really helped.

The creams and lotions and potions don't work - we tried for five years....

As far as food, the most improvement for us was cutting sugar

In addition to suggestions already mentioned, switching to Ecover Zero detergent and softener has massively helped mine and 3yo DS's eczema.

I've also found Aproderm Oat emollient to be the best by far - it's paraffin free, and feels much gentler than the (many) others I've tried over the years.

I am not a big fan of cetraben - it’s got paraffin in it, which some people with eczema (including me) find irritating. It think most prescription dry skin creams are pretty terrible, because they are cheap.

La Roche posay lipiker baume is really good if it’s very dry
O’Keffes body lotion (yellow pump bottle) is good and much cheaper
Lots of people like aveeno, but it’s not moisturising enough for me

leave 20 mins after applying your steroid to put the moisturiser on

and make sure you moisturise three times a day - this is vital

However I think you’re going to need to apply the steroid twice daily to get rid of it, and make sure it’s a strong enough steroid.

the trouble with applying it weekly is it’s not going to be getting rid of it, just dampening it down so it will leap up. On the body you often have to use steroids for a couple weeks after the eczema goes so it’s actually gone all the way through the skin layers, else it will just come back.

if you aren’t seeing a paediatric Dermatologist I would pay privately if you can. GPs aren’t good at Derm, they don’t get enough training, and the wait for an NHS Derm is very very long

someone mentions Vaseline above which is also paraffin - it’s good at locking moisture in but it’s not good at moisturising, so stick it on top of an actual moisturiser

You see I found this utterly useless on my eczema, although an excellent hand cream.

It’s such a personal thing..

Forgot to mention that lush dream cream is fantastic for dds dry skin. The consultant told her she had fantastically moisturised skin (however inflamed due to her allergies)

For my son the epaderm junior ointment seemed the best solution. It’s greasy as heck but it does the trick.

I only use non bio detergents on our washing too.

If you are using ANY type of steroid creams, even the milder hydrocortisone, read up on Topical Steroid Withdrawal. There is a vastly under reported network of suffers who used steroids (children and adults) to treat eczema. Facebook groups are the best place for info and advice. Honestly a friendly warning from a traumatised mum.

Just want to second the above on TSW. I was dependent on topical steroids and ended up hospitalised with severe TSW symptoms. I see the children on the groups suffering in the same way and it makes me want to weep for them. Please be careful - topical steroids can be so damaging.